Nuclear power plants benefit from thermal spray coatings for corrosion and erosion minimization and dimensional restoration of worn parts. This article provides a detailed discussion on the advantages of thermal spray coatings, fission reactor component coatings, and coatings for nuclear fuel processing before and after irradiation for power plant applications. Nuclear fusion research is divided into two primary fields of study categorized by the method for confining the fusion fuel: magnetic confinement fusion and inertial confinement fusion.

This article introduces the concept of condition monitoring (CM) and summarizes various techniques used for CM across the industrial sectors. The techniques include visual inspection, performance monitoring, vibration condition monitoring, vibration condition monitoring, lubricant oil analysis, acoustic emission testing, temperature monitoring, motor current signature analysis, and ultrasound emission. The article describes the evolution of condition-based maintenance in CM. It also describes the basics of integrated vehicle health management, a capability that enables a number of maintenance philosophies. The article concludes with a discussion on various condition monitoring in industrial sectors, including condition-monitoring techniques in nuclear power plants, road condition monitoring, and condition monitoring in wind turbines.

This article describes the corrosion mechanisms, challenges, and control methods in service water distribution systems. It provides a discussion on typical designs and water qualities for distribution systems used in fossil-fueled and nuclear power plants. The article also explains the techniques for controlling corrosion in service water systems.

Surface coatings are essential in all facilities that process nuclear materials or use nuclear fission for power generation. This article describes the coatings used in two basic types of Generation 3 nuclear reactor designs in the United States and their containment size. These reactors are the boiling water reactor (BWR) and pressurized water reactor (PWR). The article provides information on the loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) identified as the design basis accident (DBA), which can rapidly de-water the core of an operating nuclear reactor. To avoid LOCA, both the BWR and the PWR include emergency core cooling systems. The article describes a DBA test and other coating performance parameters necessary for safety-related coating systems. It provides a detailed account of the selection criteria of coating types in a nuclear plant. The article concludes by highlighting protective coating strategies in Generation 3 Plants.

This article discusses pressure vessels, piping, and associated pressure-boundary items of the types used in nuclear and conventional power plants, refineries, and chemical-processing plants. It begins by explaining the necessity of conducting a failure analysis, followed by the objectives of a failure analysis. Then, the article discusses the processes involved in failure analysis, including codes and standards. Next, fabrication flaws that can develop into failures of in-service pressure vessels and piping are covered. This is followed by sections discussing in-service mechanical and metallurgical failures, environment-assisted cracking failures, and other damage mechanisms that induce cracking failures. Finally, the article provides information on inspection practices.

This article defines quality, quality assurance, quality control, and quality management of processes, products, and services. It describes the evolution of quality control and quality assurance in the coatings industry. The article also discusses the standards, quality programs, and certifications in the coatings industry.

Stainless steels are iron-base alloys containing minimum of approximately 11% Cr, and owing to its excellent corrosion resistance, are used for wide range of applications. These applications include nuclear reactor vessels, heat exchangers, oil industry tubular, chemical processing components, pulp and paper industries, furnace parts, and boilers used in fossil fuel electric power plants. The article provides a brief introduction on corrosion resistance of wrought stainless steel and its designations. It lists the chemical composition and describes the physical and mechanical properties of five major stainless steel families, of which four are based on the crystallographic structure of the alloys, including martensitic, ferritic, austenitic, or duplex. The fifth is precipitation-hardenable alloys, based on the type of heat treatment used. The article further discusses the factors in the selection of stainless steel, namely corrosion resistance, fabrication characteristics, product forms, thermally induced embrittlement, mechanical properties in specific temperature ranges, and product cost.

High-temperature exposure of materials occurs in many applications such as power plants (coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear), land-based gas turbine and diesel engines, gas turbine engines for aircraft, marine gas turbine engines for shipboard use, waste incineration, high-temperature fuel cells, and missile components. This article discusses high-temperature corrosion in boilers, diesel engines, gas turbines, and waste incinerators. Boilers are affected by stress rupture failures, waterside corrosion failures, fireside corrosion failures, and environmental cracking failures. Contamination of combustion fuel in diesel engines can cause high-temperature corrosion. Gas turbine engines are affected by hot corrosion. Refractory-lined incinerators and alloy-lined incinerators are discussed. The article provides case studies for each component failure.

This article provides an overview of the safety aspects and integrity concept for pressure vessels, piping, and tubing. It focuses on the fracture mechanics approaches used to validate components with longitudinal cracks and circumferential cracks and to analyze crack growth behavior under cyclic loading. Full-scale testing facilities and the typical test results required for various applications are discussed. The article also presents information on the transferability of mechanical properties of materials.

This article reviews a series of serious corrosion problems that have plagued the light water reactor (LWR) industry. It discusses the complex corrosion mechanisms involved, and the development of practical engineering solutions for their mitigation. The article contains tables that present the corrosion history of LWRs, and the ten most expensive operation and maintenance costs of corrosion for a particular reactor site.

Erosion of a solid surface can be brought about by liquid droplet impingement (LDI), which is defined as "progressive loss of original material from a solid surface due to continued exposure to erosion by liquid droplets." In this article, the emphasis is placed on the damage mechanism of LDI erosion under the influence of a liquid film and surface roughness and on the prediction of LDI erosion. The fundamentals of LDI and processes involved in initiation of erosion are also discussed.

This article provides a discussion on general nondestructive evaluation (NDE) science and considerations for specific technique selection. It explains the basic concept of flaw detection and evaluation and probability of detection. The article provides an overview of NDE methods with their applications, limitations, and advantages. It includes details on NDE codes, calibration standards, inspection frequency, guidance on how to perform inspections, applicability, and mandatory and nonmandatory practice. The article also provides tips on where to focus inspections in order to align with the likely areas of damage or degradation and a number of other aspects of inspection.

This article discusses the main materials and water chemistry characteristics of the primary and secondary water circuits of a pressurized water reactor (PWR). It reviews the corrosion issues of PWR materials and the influence of corrosion and fouling on primary and secondary circuit radiation fields. The article explains the primary side intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) in different materials, namely, nickel-base alloys, high-strength nickel-base alloys, low-strength austenitic stainless steels, and high-strength stainless steels. The secondary side corrosion in steam generator including denting, pitting, intergranular attack and IGSCC is also discussed. The article examines laboratory studies that have resulted in models and computer codes for evaluating and predicting intergranular corrosion, and considers the remedial actions for preventing or arresting intergranular corrosion. It concludes with information on the external bolting corrosion in nuclear power reactors.

This article focuses on the mineral and organic acid cleaning of iron and steel. It begins with a discussion on the application methods, process selection criteria, solution composition, equipment used, and control of process variables in mineral acid cleaning. The article then describes the advantages and disadvantages of organic acid cleaning. Applications, including boiler cleaning, stainless steel cleaning, and removal of iron- and copper-bearing deposits, are discussed. The article concludes with an overview of acid cleaning of nonferrous alloys.

Titanium has been recognized as an element with good mechanical and physical properties, alloying characteristics, and corrosion resistance. Providing an outline of general characteristics and types of titanium alloys, this article discusses the contemporary technology of titanium along with its market developments. It also discusses the application of titanium and titanium alloys in corrosive environments and in aerospace and automotive industries. The article describes the developments in titanium processing and materials technologies, which include the development of sponge production and melting processes, oxide dispersion-strengthened alloys by powder metallurgy techniques, titanium-base intermetallic compounds, and titanium-matrix composites.

The components used in light water reactors (LWR) often remain in contact with the primary coolant, whose typical temperatures and pressures are highly aggressive, therefore, initiating corrosion in most of the alloys. This article describes the corrosion behavior of zirconium alloys in water and heat flow conditions that causes irradiation on the zirconium alloy assemblies. It discusses the effect of irradiation on the microstructure and morphology of cladded linings. The article describes the impact of metallurgical parameters on the oxidation resistance of zirconium alloys. It concludes with a discussion on LWR coolant chemistry and corrosion of fuel rods in reactors.

This article examines the understanding of persistent material changes produced in stainless alloys during light water reactor (LWR) irradiation based on the fundamentals of radiation damage and existing experimental measurements. It summarizes the overall trends and correlations for irradiation-assisted stress-corrosion cracking. The article addresses the effects of various radiation factors on corrosion. These include radiation-induced segregation at grain boundaries, radiation hardening, mode of deformation, radiation creep relaxation, and radiolysis. The article discusses a variety of approaches for mitigating stress-corrosion cracking in LWRs, in categories of water chemistry, operating guidelines, new alloys, design issues, and stress mitigation. It concludes with a discussion on the irradiation effects of irradiation on corrosion of zirconium alloys in LWR environments.

This article focuses on the effects of microscopic organisms and the by-products they produce on the electrochemical corrosion of metals. The general characteristics of the microorganisms that facilitate their influence on the electrochemistry of corrosion are discussed. The industries most often reported as being affected by microbiological corrosion are listed, along with the organisms usually implicated in the attack. The article explains that the influence of organisms can be addressed successfully for a corrosion control program by using four types of evidence: metallurgical, microbiological, chemical, and electrochemical. It provides information on the microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of irons and steels, passive alloys (austenitic stainless steels), aluminum alloys, copper alloys, and composites. The article reviews the formation of microbial biofilms and macrofouling films. It also describes the general approaches taken to prevent MIC.

This article provides an outline of the issues to consider in performing a probabilistic life assessment. It begins with an historical background and introduces the most common methods. The article then describes those methods covering subjects such as the required random variable definitions, how uncertainty is quantified, and input for the associated random variables, as well as the characterization of the response uncertainty. Next, it focuses on specific and generic uncertainty propagation techniques: first- and second-order reliability methods, the response surface method, and the most frequently used simulation methods, standard Monte Carlo sampling, Latin hypercube sampling, and discrete probability distribution sampling. Further, the article discusses methods developed to analyze the results of probabilistic methods and covers the use of epistemic and aleatory sampling as well as several statistical techniques. Finally, it illustrates some of the techniques with application problems for which probabilistic analysis is an essential element.

This article describes the various environments affecting corrosion performance, corrosion protection, and corrosion control. These include freshwater environments, marine environments, and underground environments. The article provides information on corrosion in military environments and specialized environments, representing less-well-known environments with more limited applications.